Chihoshi
by Undeadantagonist
Summary: Sakura catches the eye of the one and only Gaara when he comes to stay. Over the years she turns cold and ruthless when she loses Kakashi the only father figure she could depend on. Little did she know there is a demon stirring within her and an old teammate returns. Updated to M for the future, re-editing all chapters then should be back to updating. (28/10/12)- Charl
1. Chapter 1

**Chihoshi(blood star)**

Summary: Sakura catches the eye of the one and only Gaara. Over the years she turns cold when she loses Kakashi the only father figure she had. Little did she know there is a demon stirring within her and an old teammate returns. Disclaimer:  
I do not own Naruto or anything from its franchise

Gaara: 18

Sakura: 17

The past

_A pink woman clutched tightly a baby in her arms,beads of sweat dripping from he fragile form. A large and menacing dragon spoke to her in a forbidden tongue, the dragon spoke softly " I thank you my friend for sacrificing part of your baby as a host for me."_

_A vibrant spark black and green surround the now weeping baby and dragon, as the dragon was drawn like a vortex into the baby she parted with these words" I shall protect her always, her power will unlock at 14 years of age my friend."_

Present day 

Sakura Haruno at the mere age of 14 became an elite ANBU Captain, her cold and ruthless demeanour was known and feared by man. Her strength surprised them, although they knew how much she trained there seemed to be something unusual about how fast she rose. They watched day by day as the petite pink girl grew into a woman. Alas eventually she grew away from the village she once knew till she was almost just a whisper in the wind, a silent guardian of the village.

Sakura moan hearing the constant beep of her alarm clock, she turn over to over onto her stomach trying to tune out the noise becoming more tangled into her blankets. Final giving in she threw the alarm across the room glaring at it, she then got out of bed and glared at it again clearly showing her displeasure

'I should of remembered to turn of my alarm, this was one of the rare days I get to sleep and now I'm up at 5am.' She thought angrily.

' Indeed, this is most unfortunate. At least that THING isn't here today, I wish you'd let me do something about it.' A feminine, intelligent voice rose from the depths of her mind, mingling with hers.

' Hello Toni, it's been a while. If I didn't know any better I'd say you'd been hiding from me.' She replied to back to her mentally.

Sakura could hear the woman chuckle slightly.

' Not hiding, I merely had business to take care of my child.'Toni responded happily.

Sakura just sighed at the woman's mysterious words and started to get dressed;

She put on a black mesh top with a red vest over top, light and flexible. A skirt reaching just above her knees in dark grey, the distinctive Haruno symbol in red on both sides. She then reached for ninja bandage wraps, taking a glance in the mirror at the mysterious seal on her upper arm. It had appeared the day she was 14, a dragon with glowing green eyes, a cherry blossom entangled with it's tail. Sakura shook her head to get rid of her thoughts and finished wrapping her arms and legs, covering both making sure the seal was hidden.

Sakura's went down stairs and walked up to a photo with a similar mature pink haired woman with bold green eyes.

"Hi Mum, have a good morning!" Sakura said, her eyes reflecting the sadness she held before the emotion vanished. She looked blank and eerie with the lack of emotions show on her face.

Her mother's loss was a sad time, a mission with her team had ended tragicly with what was said to be one survivor who had been put as MIA. Sakura's eyes darkened as she looked down, thinking about her father. He had struggled with the loss of his one love, violent outbursts from him directed at the child who looks so alike her mother. He was a drunk to put it simply, although he gave her nothing but misery she could not turn to put the finger at him. Instead went to her old sensei Kakashi for help and he soon become the fatherly figure in her life. For many years she would end up at his doorstep, beaten and broken. Until that day, a year ago to be exact when the whole village mourned for their beloved jounin.

Sakura slips on her sandals and heads out to the quaint flower shop on the corner, when she got there the owner had left her a message. It said:

**Dear Sakura,**

**I have left the flower behind the bin. Could you slip your money in the letterbox?**

**Be careful,**

**Shita**

Sakura smirked and squashed the money in the letterbox; she then bent down and picked up a single white lily. She then headed for the memorial statue, as she walked down the peaceful road her head was directed to the sky. Something ran into her with an almighty force and she fell to the side. Before she had time to glare or retaliate angrily at them she heard a sad voice say" Sorry Sakura**"**

Me: That's all for now review if you want, sorry the chapters are short. I'm working on making this story a little more mature and indepth.  
Re-edit-28/10/12


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own Naruto or anything from the franchise, I merely own any OC characters I may of applied to this story

**The story continues...**

She looked up to see the one and only knuckle head Naruto smiling sadly at her, he had abandoned the bright orange jumpsuit over the years for a more mature look. His outfit was black with only hints of orange, although still a jumpsuit. He held out his hand to her but Sakura declined and got up herself.

" So what brings you here?" said Sakura in her monotoned voice.

Naruto winced at the tone then sighed and said " Well Baa-Chan requested I found you. You are due for a mission and should head to the tower soon. Anway I should head off soon too, I've got a mission too!" He said with a foxy grin and then handed over the lily he had picked up.

" Sakura please smile just once!" The future Hokage explained in a pleading voice. Sakura's eyes softened just a touch and she gave him a heartbreaking smile and grasped the lily a little before disappearing in a swirl of black and pink cherry smoke.

Sakura reappeared at Kakashi's grave, her head against the smooth and cold surface of it and lay the single flowed down while taking the dead one. It burnt in her palm within seconds and she lent up to blow the ash away. For a second she watched the pieces float away on the wind.

"My pup, please stop blaming yourself for this. I hate to see you so dead inside and out!" Toni pleased with her, trying to reason.

"But if only I'd been there with him, I could have saved him. Now hush Toni" Sakura thought with a snarl, her teeth clenched now showing the turmoil she felt inside.

Sakura made a few hand signs with the laze of her old sensei and she was gone in a flash, she reappeared just outside large oak Tsunade's door. Sakura smirked darkly before barging in to the sleeping Hokage's room, making sure the door slammed viciously against the wall.

Tsunade woke up with a started yelling" CAN'T I HAVE JUST ONE BREAK, I'M THE HOKAGE GOD DAMN-" but stopped as soon as she saw Sakura.

"Ahh Sakura, just the person I needed!" Tsunade exclaimed," Enough with the chitchat what's my mission?" Sakura said impatiently. "Fine, fine you have to go to the start of the Suna desert where the new Kazekage will be waiting for you, he and his family will be saying here for a month or so. This is a A ranked mission because some rogue ninja have been seen roaming around, I know the new Kazekage won't need protecting but I'm sending you incase. You can leave right away." Tsunade finished smiling at Sakura and taking some Sake out of her draw.

Sakura shook her head at her other old sensei's habit before hopping to the window ledge and on to the roof. Finally she land outside her house, deactivating any traps she had placed before she'd left. Grasping a small pack, placing medikits, kunai, shuriken and other trivial mission essentials. Her eyes glinted, reflecting the steel as she picked up a Katana, well worn from use. Some bloodstains were soaked in to the grooves, oh whom she did not wonder nor care.

End of Chapter

I hope you enjoyed it, if not just say. Sorry the chapters are so short at the moment, hopefully when I get around to to editing all the chapters and start a new one things will get a tad longer.

Re-edit- 28/10/12


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own Naruto or any of the franchise, merely any OCs used in this story.  
  
**The story continues...**

Trees rushed past at an alarming rate as Sakura jumped from branch to branch at the speed only a ninja could use. Suddenly there were spikes of multiple chakra levels that would be upon her in seconds. She had to think fast so she hid behind a tree masking her own chakra even further making it untraceable, sword in hand. She calculated 10 rogue nin from the whispers that crept to her ears. The largest of them would be a decent challenge from what she could tell

"Come out where ever you are little nin, we just want to have a little fun that's all."

A chorus of laughter went around the group, Sakura's glare hardened as did the her grip on the katana. She sent 5 clones darting from her hiding place, they circled the prey. The nin took them out with a series of amateur attacks, she was testing them.

She struck taking down the smallest first with a chakra infused punch, making the ground ramble as it went through the meat of his leg and grazed the ground.

Her attack had coursed uproar in the group, comments like "Is she human?" and "Stupid bitch, she just got lucky!" popped up.

Sakura smirked.

'Time to finish this quickly, they've made me late.' she thought already bored.

Clasping her hands together she whisper "Chihoshi, power my blade." The blade started to glow a sickening red colour and whispers of an ancient swirl through Sakura's head, their lust for blood was almost overwhelming. The red light faded and the view became bloody, the ground soaked in dark liquid that was glinting in the sun. The leaders head could be found impaled to a tree, kunai lodged into the sockets of where his eyes once stood. Calmly Sakura walked over to it and whispered into the ear "I came out, Leader-San."

A few minutes later the trees began to thin and the ground was becoming coarse, turning into sand. Up ahead she saw the figures of three people, one with an amazing large amount of chakra emitting from them. She focused her eye slight and sighed; good they weren't some more missing nin. As she approached she noted that their expressions were slightly surprised, she grew amused at this. One was Temari the wind kunoichi looking no different than usual although seemed grateful to see a female. Kankuro was also there only he was wearing blue face paint but still as cocky as ever. Lastly was Gaara wearing the Kazekage robes proudly, looking a bit more in touch with reality and less animalistic than last time she saw him. His red hair was rustling in the wind, eyes deep and dark with the pain he had once suffered.

Bowing and then clearing her throat she spoke up " Kazekage-Sama? Let's get going, I suggest we do not take that root if you are ones for weak stomaches." She said in a dull voice.

Gaara took this time to take in the sight of her, she had certainly change from the girl he had once seen. Her movements were calculated and calm, she held a strong and respectable aura around her. A few beads of sweat ran down her exposed neck from the head, his eyes drifted towards her lean figure before speaking up.

"We'll go that way anyway, I see no need to change route" Gaara said in a collected voice.

Sakura shook her head shrugged and started leading the way, her hand on her kantana at all times. Gaara was slightly surprised by the pink haired kunoichi attitude but didn't let it show. After a little while they came to the clearing where Sakura had fought, Kankuro run to bush and threw up what seem to be breakfast. Temari began to swear large amounts and her face started to lose colour. Gaara stood there with a slightly confused face and turn to Sakura.

She just shrugged "If they hadn't tried to have some fun then they'd still have their limbs. Besides I took care of the problem so the chances we will get ambushed now are slim." She stated twirling a kunai in her hand.

"Hn. " Gaara said before turning to the others "Come on let's keep moving.".

They came in view of Konoha after travelling for 3 hours, taking it's toll on Kankuro who complained about his hunger for at least half the way. As they step through the gates they heard whispers like " She's still alive then.", "I thought she was just a myth these days" and "That monster, I wonder how many she killed this tine!", Sakura just carried on ignoring the curious and wicked remarks the civilian folk made about her said. The three siblings puzzled glances at each other and then look towards Sakura, all of them deep in thought.

"Hmm, she's different. Something has changed, I want to know more. " Gaara thought.

"Since when did she get so hot? Even if she a bit terrify..." Kankuro thought.

While Temari was having a debate on whether to ask her, Sakura suddenly stopped.

"If you wanted to know what happen, you'll have to ask someone else. Here's your stop, tell Tsunade-sama I shall leave a report on her desk tomorrow." Sakura murmured, her voice a low growl. 

She left them outside the doors for a moment before pressing on to meet the large breasted Hokage.

She turned at the noise, sake in one hand that was sloshing around.

" Ah I've been expecting you Gaara-san, welcome to the village again. I hope the trip was to your standards." She said before letting out a large laugh.

Gaara looked at her, amusement danced in his eyes.

" Indeed Tsunade-san , everything went well. Your ANBU took care the the rouges and we arrived with no hitch."

" As expected, Sakura-chan is my finest! I'd expect nothing less of someone her standards. Let me guess, she didn't wear her mask again?"

Gaara nodded at the questions and Tsunade slammed her hands down the her large desk, a large crack appeared from under them.

" I swear to Kami that girl has a death wish, she will have to be punished for this again." She said before sighing.

Gaara spoke up again " She has changed a lot, do you know why?"

Tsunade looked up at him with old and tired eyes that shone with unshed tears, " Normally I would not disclose this information however you are the Kazekage and since you will have to be staying with her I think you should know. However this information does not leave this office, she cannot know I told you this."

She took in a deep breath before beginning to tell a tale.

"It all start about a year after her team made the Uchiha brat left the village. Her mother was reported dead at the sight of one of her missions. Apparently someone had tipped off Sound-nin and her team was ambushed. She was raped multiple times then left to bleed to death. Sakura's father from what I hear is not mentally stable since the incident, although she won't tell me what has happens I got a good idea of what from Kakashi. Unfortunately I cannot get involved without evidence, Kakshi was a good man. He helped Sakura like no other, he used to call her his daughter after a while. That was until a year ago when as a result of a failed mission he passed away, she didn't even have time to say goodbye to him. It broke my poor apprentice to pieces."

All these of the sand-nin looked agast with this new information slowly sinking into their brains, even Gaara who's eyes had widened slightly to the trained eye.

Tsunade clapped her hands.

" Enough of this chit chat, Sakura usually stays with her father to look after him. However she does have her own house she rarely uses, you shall be staying there with her for ANBU protection for the rest of your stay."

**End Chapter**

Re-edit 28/10/12

Sorry if the other chapters will not make sense for now, I have tweaked the story slightly so until they are all updated things could get a bit confusing.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the franchise, merely some OCs used for my story.**

The dark sky loomed over head while civilians slept in their beds, Sakura look this opportunity to get some time to herself free of prying eyes. She was leaning against a worn out tree gazing at the stars. She took in a deep breath of air and let it back out in a puff, she loved the night air it was so calming and pure. The moonlight shone against her figure making causing a faint glow from her skin, a dark silhouette of a boy suddenly covered her figure.

Sakura sighed," You know Gaara-sama you should be at the hotel instead of wandering around late at night. We can't have the prized Kazekage go missing. " She said facing him.

A growl came form the back of his throat," Shouldn't you be at home too?"

The smirk on his face grew larger and she returned the gesture with a cold smirk of her own," I can do what ever I want; You however are the Kazekage and have to be careful of where you go. For your villages sake you should be cautious since you never know where assassin nins could be."

Sakura went to walk away when Gaara grabbed her arm firmly," Why are you like this? Your eyes have lost their warm and your hurting everyone with your selfish act, Naruto especially." He said in his usual monotone, Naruto had expressed concerned he was for her to Gaara over a quick lunch.

Sakura's emerald eyes glimmered for a second but it vanished almost as soon as it had appeared," You should know this fact very well _Gaara, _people change!" she said harshly before ripping her arm out of his grasp and disappearing in a storm of smoke. Gaara stood there for a minute his eyes softened as he look at the place Sakura was just standing; he then shook his head and disappeared in a whirl of sand. But not before uttering the words " Not all change is good."

**The next day**

Sakura woke up bright and early despite staying up so late, her dreams had been riddled with nightmares of the past and future. As she stretched her limbs cracked loosening up, she then walked into a small and plain bathroom to freshen up. When she emerged she had her normal attire on with a grey cloak draped around her form. She then tackled her fair, engaging it in a war with her hair brush, "What's the problem?" she asked a messenger nin who was in the corner of her bedroom, tilting her head to the side. The messenger stood up straight at once "The Hokage wants you to see her in the office immediately." He said bowing before disappearing from sight.

Once Sakura had arrived in the office she was met with Tsunade, Gaara, Temari and Kankuro, her eyebrow raised in expectation "Well you see…" Tsunade started. Sakura finished the sentence for her ," You want them to stay at my house in case of any assassination attempts on the Kazekage here, I've already prepared the rooms..."

Tsunade's mouth was hanging open but she snapped it shut quickly, " It is only a A ranked mission for now since there has been no problems thus far." she said giving Sakura the once over.

The pink kunoichi nodded and straighened up " I see no problem with this, I accept them mission. I just hope they will respect my privacy in return." She gave an obvious glace at Gaara as she said this, " I have another matter to discuss, alone" Sakura emphasized the word alone and Tsunade nodded, requesting the Sand-nin to wait outside for a moment.

" You own me one for this, you know how much I despise people invading my personal space. However enough about that, do you have my pills? I ran out of them a few days ago."

" Not sleeping again Sakura? It's getting worse, I can tell. They're in the draw over by the door." Tsunade said, leaning on one arm with a frown etched into her face. " Thank you for doing this Sakura, you're a great kunoichi. You do me proud out there."

Sakura merely nodded her head in acknowledgement, not turning around for the fear that her facade would fall, everything she had worked for would be ruined.

She walked out, glancing around she spotted Gaara and his siblings.

" This way, you might want to be fast about it." She said with a dark chuckle before heading out of the tower.

"**Sakura!**"echoed around the whole village and while walking home a pink haired women was sniggering while holding a bottle of sake in her hand.

**End of Chapter**

Re-edit (28/10/12)

Review if you want, it would be nice to get some feedback on my edits. :)


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the franchise, merely some OCs used for my story.

Sakura had fallen asleep on her sofa after arriving home after giving the trio directions to her house to they could bring their luggage. There was a sudden knock at the door and Sakura awoke with a groan, rubbing her head to clear her mind. She wiped her tired eyes and quickly rose from her sleepy state; she made her way to the door and opened it cautiously. Gaara was stood outside with his luggage wait there patiently, his shaggy hair covering his dashing teal eyes

" Where are your siblings?" Sakura said in a quiet voice.

Gaara looked at her with surprise "They are staying somewhere else so I won't be tracked as easily. I thought Tsnuade would of informed you." He replied. She nodded and held the door open wider so he would fit through, Gaara took a large step and was inside. Her house looked unloved; the only indication that someone was living in here was the stacked dishes and a photo of Team 7.

Gaara snapped back out of his thoughts and Sakura was currently waving a hand in front of his face looking slightly annoyed, "Are you going to stand there all day or follow me to your room"

Sakura moved stiffly towards the stairs and began to proceed up them, at the end of upper floor corridor she stopped." This is your bedroom and the bathroom is to your right, my bedroom is on the left if you need anything." She motioned to all the rooms and the left immediately heading towards her room. Gaara sighed '_This was going to be one long stay but possibly interesting, I have a strange feeling' _he thought.

Sakura was dangling upside down from her bed, her long flowing hair hitting the floor surround her like a halo. Clutched in one of her small hands was a photo of her and Kakashi; he was giving her a piggy back and she was sticking her tongue out. Her Father wouldn't be back for awhile and she prayed to gods that he didn't come and 'visit' her while Gaara was here, who know what either one would do. She winced internally from the mere thought.

Her father was a difficult topic, it was a love-hate relationship. For all the things he had done wrong and every time her struck her, she could not retaliate. She loved her dear father, who could not control his own thoughts or actions anymore, her hands had seen more death and violence than most shinobi . One move and she could be free of such pain, yet Sakura was trapped. Through this all she was still the terrified little girl when she entered that house, too weak and too small to do anything inside. Her stomach gave an angry growl, shocking her at first before she realised she was indeed rather hungry and got up to make lunch. 

Gaara had sat down on the window sill and looked into the sky, "_There is something about Sakura that makes her unique, she always has been just in different ways. From when we were taking the chunin exams, the fragile but vibrant blossom so innocence and happy. To her dark, lonely attitude that has driven her to solitude."_ He thought, yes there was something special about her alright but however it was so much more than he or anyone else would of guessed. Little did he know, his two other siblings were delved in the same thoughts.

With Temari and Kankuro

"There is very peculiar about that girl, ne Kankuro?" Temari said pondering, He nodded " And I thought watching Gaara's old violent outbreaks were bad, he killed people but that, that was something else." His voice darkened for a moment, shuddering slightly.

He then perked up and smirked, " Although it would be fun to train with her sometime and see what she can really do."

Temari smiled at this," Wow little bro you read my thoughts exactly."

**End of Chapter**

**Re-edit 28/10/12  
I would love some feedback the story since I've edited if you would be kind enough, apart from that I hope you enjoyed.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the franchise, I merely own OCs I use in the story.**

The sun was on it's way down, giving the village a beautiful evening glow and the sounds of civilians chatter could be hear. Sakura was waiting for her other 'guests' to arrive that had claimed they wanted to see their baby brother.

The house was in fact small however the majestic grounds outside made up from that, flowers stayed bloom giving it a magical feel all year round, despite all of the colours radiating from the garden the house itself looked worn and eerie. There were large windows but the curtain shut out the suns ray with the thick musty red fabric, the colour of the house was a bleak grey that was starting to chip away.

Sakura sighed; she was fed of how this town was made up. The standards were ridiculous, those who got appreciation were either in a clan, wealth or both. She herself had refused to train a genin group after being offered multiple times.

Mainly it was the memories that haunted her night and day, she was scared. A team would remind her too much of her own, broken team. The other reason was that the standard level of ninja was falling rapidly; many were become ignorant to the ninja art. 'What was the point in training kids that don't even want to train to full potential in the first place?' She thought feeling very irritated.

A sharp rapping at the door quickly brought Sakura reeling out of her thoughts as she strode to a large oak door and swiftly opened it with one large tug. Suddenly she was tackled to the floor and gasp with surprise; she could just make out a black and orange blur. A growl escaped from her "Naruto, what are you doing?" she asked very annoyed, even though she had been growing further from him over the years he was still determined to treat her the same. His friendship had kept her going, just. Not that she'd ever reveal that small bit of information to him.

"Hey Sakura-chan, I heard that Gaara, Kankuro and Temari are going to be staying. Besides I haven't came to your house in ages!" he said his voice slowly getting quieter, ending in a pout.

"Okay but maybe we should get up so I can breathe again?" Sakura replied giving in, letting herself speak in a softer tone she hadn't used in a while.

There was a small cough from behind them and Sakura and Naruto slowly rose from the ground, the three Naruto had just mentioned now stood in the doorway. Gaara's face was void of any emotion as to be expected, Kankuro had a smirk on his face and looked like he was about to laugh and Temari's eyebrows were raised. This was the first time they had seen Sakura show the smallest amount of emotion, since they had first seen her. Sakura straightened up with her lips pursed, tugging at her skirt; she then spoke "Sorry about that I was rugby tackled by a fat orange blob."

"Hey! I'm not fat you take that back!" Naruto yelled although he knew she was joking.

Sakura rolled her eyes and turned her back motioning everyone to follow her. They slowly shuffled through the house Sakura showing them most of the rooms, only stopping to go check on some food she had left unadvised; sighing with relief when she saw it was just about ready to be set out. She went back to the group using her Chi Saku jutsu which she had not yet quite mastered, many of her self made jutsu were very hard and she had yet to master many of them. They sometimes took a large toll on her body and she could not afford her chakra levels to get too low.

Sakura spoke slowly, in a very lazy manner "Dinner is just about done; I'll show you to your rooms. Come down when you are ready. Can I assume you're staying for dinner Naruto?

"You know it Sakura" He yelled.

"Keep your voice down moron." Sakura hissed.

They were in a wide corridor that led off to 3 rooms; although they themselves were quite small and what some would call quaint. Kankuro peaked inside the first, it was furnished in brown before walking in happily. Temari looked before shrugging and walked over to another door, the purple room seemed to please her greatly, she looked around and said " Lots of guest rooms, I guess this is why you kitchen and living room are tiny!" emphasising how small they were with her hands.

" I know where my room is Sakura-Chan, see you in a bit!" He exclaimed with a wink before darting to another door.

Gaara was about to head off in when he heard Sakura say "My room is next to yours, knock if you need anything otherwise don't bother me."His head turned to her, gaze piercing hers. He had only just noticed how mature and radiant she looked, surely she had many men after her. His eyes moved over her body discretely, taking in everything. Gaara was about to look back at her face only to find she had vanished, "Hmmm doesn't she know how irritating that is, although I suppose that makes me a hypocrite" He thought while trudging up the stairs.

**End Chapter**

Re-edit(28/10/12)

Finally the last chapter has been edited, don't worry there shall be more to come later today. Well unless you aren't fussed. Please review if you have the chance and thank you for taking your time to read my story.


	7. Update

Hi guys it's Charlie.

I have been away from here for far too long, especially since quite a lot of you enjoyed this story.  
I apologise for not update, however looking back I am not happy with how it was written and I feel it was a tad too childish for the subjects I was writing around.

I'm letting you guys know I plan to finish this story but first I'm going back and re-editing all of the chapters till I feel they are okay.  
Many thanks to ALL of the wonderful reviews, flames or not. I enjoy reading them.

I hope you will enjoy this story as I will enjoy continuing it. 3


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the franchise, merely the OCs I use in my story**

Sakura's thoughts drifted to Gaara as she stood stirring the sizzling wok of a stir fry, an apron wrapped firmly around her petite waist. She had abandoned her room, realising the food would probably burn without her attendace.

'He's sure grown up, a Kazekage at his age. I always knew he was talented however I'm surprised the villagers truly accept him. Not after all he and they have been through.' She thought, frowning slightly.

Another voice rose from inside her head ' Ah someone seems to have caught you attention my pup, the sand demon? Well he certainly is handsome with those broad shoulders, alluringly dangerous eyes and not to mention he looks well en-' Sakura let out a strangled choke, silencing her friend Toni from her mind.

A hand laid itself on her shoulder, Sakura release what she was holding sensing a punch towards the offender's face as she wheeled around. However another large hand was clasped around her's, incasing it completely. Her eyes widened slight as she realised it was just Gaara who had an almost hungry look on his face, which didn't seem to be aimed at the food behind her.

He lent down, his breath tickling the lobe of her ear as he whispered in his deep gravely voice " Too slow Sa-ku-ra."

She blinked several times and shook her head, looking now to see Gaara sat arms cross with a deep smirk on his face, his eyebrows raised. His arm leant on the table, showing off his toned but slender arms from the black shinobi vest he wore.

"You!" Sakura exclaimed with a hiss.

"Yes, what about me?" He said calmly, inside he was having a ball watching her squirm , emotions suited her face a great deal better. They made her look exquisite and let up every feature of hers, fire danced around her eyes.

Sakura bite her lip, clearing all thoughts at once. She glanced again, although she hated to admit it Toni was right. Gaara was quite the looker, in a dangerously unkempt kind of way. His deep red hair, shaggy and looked windswept, eyes alight with an emotion she couldn't quite place.

" Do not touch me Kazekage-sama, I am here to protect you. I am on guard at all times, I apologise for nearly hitting you. Let's make sure that doesn't happen again, ne?" She said through gritted teeth, returning to the food before dishing it out. The other three slid into the room, casually chatting about missions and training.

Over dinner there was much laughter and talking, Gaara included which took Sakura by surprise. He had changed a lot more than she thought as she just sat back and observed the stage group. She could feel an all too familiar tug at her heart.

**End Chapter****  
I thought I hadn't written anything new for a while so I decided to write a quick chapter out now I've finished editing the other pages, I hope you enjoy and I shall hopefully get another chapter or two done later today. Reviews are always welcomed.**


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